


Spell

by soleil77



Series: Felannie/Netteflix Fics [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat Cafés, Established Relationship, F/M, Felannie/Netteflix, Fluff, Not Beta Read, Pre-Relationship, You'll see what I mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soleil77/pseuds/soleil77
Summary: Annette and Felix go to a dessert bar and Annette reminisces on a memory.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Series: Felannie/Netteflix Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711012
Kudos: 16





	Spell

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea but not enough time to write it for Fantastical Felannie week. Here it is anyways. I was also inspired by the Felannie discord with the discussion on cat cafés awhile back! Consider this a kind of prequel/accompaniment to Star (same universe) with a similar narrative format but from Annette’s perspective.
> 
> Enjoy!

Pushing through the heavy door of the dessert bar, the warmth slipped out past Annette and Felix into the wintery night. The dark wooden floorboards melted into the flickering shadows and lit candles decorated each of the tables. People and quiet chatter already filled the space.

Felix laid a hand against her back, nudging Annette forward. 

“Hey!”

“You’re getting snow on you.” Felix wiped her nose with the light touch of his finger. 

She scrunched up her nose and ducked inside the establishment. Felix merely shifted his head in slight amusement and closed the door behind them. Annette scanned the area for any sign of the dessert bar’s local cat who added to the popularity of the place’s ambiance and well-praised desserts. But, to her disappointment, no cat was in sight. 

They made their way to the counter. Glass flasks, jars and bottles of wine lined the back shelves of the bar. A wooden rack, to one side of the shelves, strung various dried herbs. Books lay open against the counter, the pages faded and filled with cursive script and symbols. 

Annette marvelled at the details of the furniture, the decorations and the placement of everything. It was amazing. Even more so… She sniffed the air. The aroma of freshly baked pastries and sweet goodness filled her nose. A hint of spice, too? 

“We have a booking for two at seven-thirty.” Felix’s voice directed at the staff member standing behind the bar. A slight cough soon followed. Clearly, the cough was a response to her distracted thoughts. In return, Annette elbowed Felix in the side. 

After taking their reservations, the staff member guided them to their table tucked right next to the window. The mosaic window glowed with shades of pink, purple, red, blue, and green from the streetlamp’s light. 

“It’s not bad here.” Felix eased off his coat onto the chair, then unwound the scarf around Annette’s neck. 

“It’s beautiful, and the desserts smell scrumptious. I’m glad Mercie recommended it to us!” Annette said, tugging at her and Felix’s gloves before placing them into her bag.

They settled into the booth, going through the menu. Elegantly drawn desserts and drinks illustrated the pages in beautiful detail. 

Cakes. Pies. Tarts.

All of it sounded delicious. She stole a peek at Felix, whose sharp features were relaxed in thought as he scanned the menu. 

“Are you ready to order?” 

Annette nodded and listed out her choices alongside with the surprise special, and they made their orders. Her choice going to the sweetest one and Felix with a decidedly less sugary dessert. 

Soon enough, a waiter laid down the various plates and drinks onto the table. The warm wafts of pastries of both the sweet and savoury kind filled her senses. 

Felix moved the plates and drinks at the perfect angles. With a smile, Annette snapped photos of the desserts. Once satisfied with how the photos turned out, she nodded and readied her utensils. Just as aesthetically pleasing the food looked, the flavours were even better.

Annette stretched out her arms once done with the dessert. With a content sigh, she sipped her iced berry tea. The flavour was tangy and sweet. Her gaze wandered over Felix who was finishing his cup of hot Almyran Pine Needles tea, his shoulders loose, and features less sharp than usual. He was perfect. Annette reached out-

The waiter came up again, laying the covered plate down onto the table. 

“So, as this is our specialty, we like to do a little something special to give it that magic touch. To cast a spell!” 

“Cast a spell?”

The waiter beamed, “We want to give everyone an interactive experience and encourage you to say a rhyme to give the dessert a magic spell.”

Felix stilled. The waiter waved a hand, taking Felix’s reaction as nervousness. “No need to worry, we already have a list of spells for you to choose if you would like to.” The words trailed off when Felix remained silent. Annette bit back a smile, ready to take over the spell.

“I will say-”

A large black cat covered in white spots slunk behind the waiter and neared closer to their table. It pressed up close against Felix’s legs with soft purrs. 

“Oh!” the waiter said, beaming, “Sibyl, our resident cat, has come to visit.”

“Ahem.” Felix coughed, eyes on the cat. “What were the words?”

The waiter blinked; mouth slightly open at Felix’s words. “Er, are you sure? It’s not necessary if you don’t want-”

“I will do it.” The tone held even, but Annette knew better by the way Felix’s eyes had a certain sharpness to them and the barest shift of his posture. As she expected.

With a slight melody to it, the waiter recited the words of one of the spells. Even Annette had to admire the flow of the rhymes. 

Felix patted the cat who nuzzled his fingers for a moment after the recitation of a spell. He turned to the still covered dessert plate and began to repeat the spell. 

* * *

No way.

Annette blinked rapidly, her fingers rubbed at her eyes. Hard. That unmistakable hair in its unkempt style and that face. It couldn’t be true?

She pinched her arm. 

The ensuing pain confirmed it was very real. 

Peering through the window once more, Annette reassessed the situation like picking apart one of those difficult mathematical questions she loved. 

A coffee mug sign hung on the back wall beside a large chalkboard. From the distance, she only made out pastel coloured squiggles of writing etched onto the board which must be the listings of various food and beverages. Wooden tables and chairs, even beanbags, were artfully arranged in a semi-circle, creating an enormous space in the centre. 

Cats.

A multitude of cats in distinct shades and sizes roamed the bright space. A few cats sprawled themselves across the rugs and others perched their bodies upon raised platforms in absolute contentment. 

Although Annette adored dogs with all her heart, it did not mean she disliked cats. Truthfully, she had a soft spot for their curious eyes and independence. And who could say no to such cuteness? A part of her wanted to rush in there to be surrounded by the abundance of fluffiness, a cat snug on her lap with its soothing purrs against her body.

However, one thing. No. One _person_ put a stop to such actions. Right in the centre of the cats stood a single person. The cats clamoured for the person’s attention, circling and weaving themselves against the legs of the person. 

Felix. 

So, it hadn’t been a joke when he had mentioned a cat café and work... Why would Felix lie? He was notorious for his sharp tongue, but never with her….

An oh so rare smile splayed across his lips as he waved a toy wand, letting the cats jump and paw at it. His posture loose and calm. Had she ever seen him like this? Annette had no idea how long she had been watching when Felix lifted his face toward the window.

Sliding away from the window, out of sight, Annette rested the back of her head against the sun-baked wall. Her breath uneven, heart thrumming in fast beats, and thoughts whirling in override. Over and over, her mind tried to piece the bits and pieces together of the _how_ , and the _why_ was she so nervous but… delighted. A bell rang in the distance.

Yes. No. Yes?

There was a logical reason for this, right? There had to be? Sure, they hung out when they had study sessions. She nodded to herself. She did that with Ashe and Lysithea, too. It was nothing strange.

Wait. 

Now that she thought about it, there had been time excluding studying when he joined her on prompt visits to the museum or whatever new desserts came out despite Felix lacking a sweet tooth. Or talking and texting late in the night. She shook her head. She did that with Mercie. 

A light voice chided her. _Not just that, Annie_. Their last encounter came to mind. Felix staying all evening to check on her during her bad cold, waiting until Mercie returned from work. 

What about the warmth and flutter in her chest whenever she was around him? 

_No. No. No_

Annette took a deep breath, determined to shake away such thoughts. This was not like her. She could face this. Besides, Felix was a friend. A wonderful friend. She hadn’t seen him for a while, well over a week, but that didn’t matter. Yes, that was right! Even now, the argument sounded ridiculous. 

“Bah!” Annette stood up, gripping her bag handle tight, “This is silly. Why should I be hiding?”

She marched into the cat café with straightened shoulders, embodying all her perseverance and energy. If she met Felix, she would simply say hi and thank him for his help. 

Annette examined the café inside, but Felix had seemingly disappeared. Maybe he had left. What if he saw her? Her face burned in embarrassment. Surely, Felix would have said something if he did, right? 

With a shaky but polite voice, she ordered a cup of tea, handing over her travel mug to the barista. It was no use thinking about it now. 

The barista took the order and Annette stood to the side, nerves still heightened. She closed her eyes and hummed. A new melody slowly conjured itself up, ideas swirling in her mind. 

_The drip drip of sweet tea._

_Sugar and sugar._

_And I am full of glee._

“Annette.”

She opened her eyes, already knowing who it would be. He always appeared out of nowhere, as if her voice had somehow… 

Annette couldn’t help another blush take over her cheeks at the thought. 

Her attention focused on the box Felix held cradled in one arm before trailing up to meet those amber eyes.

“Hi.” Her throat closed-up, the nervousness building up until the words tumbled out in short bursts. “I’m just um passing by, yeah. I thought that I- you know saw you, so I thought I’d say hi. I’m not strange or anything!”

“Uh, hey….” He placed the box on the counter, “I didn’t say you were.” His voice was serious but quiet. 

Annette stilled, unsure what to say after her outburst. 

“Do you-” 

“Actually, l was-”

They stopped, the silence lengthening between the two of them. Unable to take the awkwardness, Annette spoke first. 

“You go first. I mean it.”

He stared at her and shifted his gaze to something behind her. Annette turned.

The barista smiled, placing the travel mug down, “Tea’s ready.”

“Oo-o thank you.”

She curled her hands tightly around the travel mug and faced Felix again. What was she going to say now? All she had planned to say had already been spoken. Well, the sensible part of her knew she could simply leave and be off, any awkwardness dissipating away behind her. But somehow Annette didn’t _want_ to leave. Then what about the topic of conversation? How was she going to continue that? How-

“Since you’re here, why not sit with cats?” Annette jolted out of her dilemma to find Felix gesturing to the cats within the separated space of the café. 

“Cats?” Confusion clouded her thoughts for a moment as she registered the question. “Yes,” she said before Felix could take back his words. 

He led her through a glass door and pointed to the wooden seats and beanbags.

“Which one do you want to sit on?”

“The beanbags!” She beamed, sinking into one. Warm and comfy it was, even more so with the tea in hand. A few of the cats regarded them before turning away whilst a large tabby one wandered up toward Felix. 

He joined her in an adjacent beanbag, stroking the cat in long motions, then he said with a quiet voice,

“How are you? I haven’t seen you around.”

Annette widened her eyes, fingers swirling over the rim of the mug. Although it had only been a week and a half, it had given her time to reflect on herself and her studies. How she was overworking herself to the point of exhaustion. 

“I’ve been going well… taking a breather. Though, I’m not used to staying still for so long. That’s why I decided to go out for a walk and well…” _Find myself here with you by accident in a good but kind of embarrassing way._ Annette didn’t add that part and instead supplied, “I was a little surprised to find you working here…”

“Oh. Well, I volunteer here. I help with cleaning up and some administrative tasks.”

“Silly me, thinking…” Annette paused halfway, reigning in the words back with a tiny sip of the tea. “I- you know I was just saying it must be nice being around the cats. I can’t help but feel a little envious.”

A slight almost smile, not quite the one from before, curved over Felix’s lips. He rubbed beneath the chin of the cat who purred happily. 

“The others must come over a bit.” 

Felix retracted his smile with a snort. “I’d rather not.”

“What do you mean?” This was news. Surely, Felix would have told his closest friends, or maybe that was Annette jumping to conclusions again. Not everyone had the friendship she had with Mercie. 

“As if I would tell them, especially Sylvain.” Felix scowled. 

“Why? Afraid he would tease you?” Annette leaned forward, gleeful at stumbling across this additional information. 

Felix paused, resuming the petting, this time a spotted cat took the place of the tabby one. “Not afraid. I do not have time for his troublesome comments. I don’t want to hear any coming from him. Ingrid likes cats, but she has allergies. The boar- Dimitri he’s too busy with flowers.” 

“Is that so? Sounds a lot like teasing to me.” Annette held a sly smile. “Well, I for one think it’s extremely kind, sweet, _and_ adorable.”

Felix turned away. It did nothing to hide the tint of his ears. “Hm.”

She smiled ever wider. “But you told me.”

Felix’s next answer was short as if it answered everything. “The café has desserts.”

“Why not Mercie or Lysithea?” Annette pressed more, her hands clutching the mug tight. 

Felix faced her, eyes alight with a certain clarity to it, “Because I do not need to tell the two of them. Only you.”

_Oh._

Annette blinked, an awareness washing over her into stunned silence. Felix didn’t seem to know what to say either. She had fallen into a trap of her making. She swung the mug to her lips far too quickly, droplets of the tea landing on her hand.

“Ouch!”

Felix reached out, fingers on her hand, his eyes wide and alert.

“No, I’m fine! Just me being clumsy.” A sudden bout of nervous laughter bubbled out. The brush of Felix’s fingers against her skin. Her heart thumped, heat rising across her face.

Felix remained guarded, his lips and eyes drawn tight. “You sure?”

Annette nodded, unable to muster any words. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Felix furrowed his eyebrows and it was then his eyes widened, noting the proximity of his fingers to Annette’s hand. The fact that Felix knew now sent a jolt across her skin. Felix pulled back far too quickly. More silence ensued except for the flicker of the cats' tails.

“Sorry about that.” Felix swallowed and averted his gaze to the cat, “I-I forgot to ask. You’re feeling better, now?” Back to the conversation.

“Yes. Thanks for helping me out there. Mercie was so mad at me but we made up so, um, don’t worry. Turns out all those all-nighters caught up to me.” She smiled, “Anyway, thank you for that. Let me make up to you.”

Felix regarded with his amber eyes. “You don’t need to do anything. I would have done that, regardless.”

“Still..” she insisted. 

He glanced up at her again, his eyes crinkling with kindness to it before turning away again, trying to mask it with a scowl again.

“Hey!”

Annette gave a playful nudge; the tip of her sandal touched the side of his boot.

Another pause. Felix faced her. “We can stay here... I like this.”

“You do? That’s it?” Annette’s heart filled with giddiness.

“Yeah.” Now Felix looked away again, concentrating on the cat in front of him. 

Kneeling to the side with one hand still on the cat, Felix reached out for a box labelled Cat Toys. From the beanbag, Annette spotted a variety of colourful props from feathers to pretend mice. 

Felix lifted one of the props. A purple feather swayed from the thin wire attached to the top of the wand. Ah, the one from before. Perhaps she could pick one to play with the cats too? All thoughts faded to the back with Annette’s quickening pulse. 

Felix waved the cat wand, his expression morphing into a kind of gentleness, the cat tugging at the feather. He was-

“Annette… When you asked-”

Aha! No way would Felix pass up a chance for one of her songs. A newfound calmness settled over her. 

“I knew it. Did you miss my singing? I know. I know. How about I show you an early recording of one of my songs?” Annette teased, sticking out a tongue.

“No…” She shut her mouth, laughter fading away. Unlike the many times where he would look away, Felix stared straight at her. “It’s not only that. I like spending time with you and you’re a good person, Annette.” After those words, Felix dropped his gaze toward the cats. “That’s all.”

“Um…”

“Uh…”

She continued to pat the cat, however; the words continued to replay like a song stuck in her head. Felix said that. I like spending time with you. 

“I like it too.” She paused, watching the one cat nuzzle another who was curled up in a ball of softness. “When I spend time with you.” 

There, she said it. _Say more_. A tiny voice insisted which sounded suspiciously like her own. 

He reached into the box, pulling out a different cat wand and lowering the wand to her. “Do you want to try it?”

“Oo-oh sure!” She laid her palm open, and Felix placed the handle into her palm. The pads of his fingers skimmed her skin with the drop, and he retracted his hand back, much to Annette’s disappointment.

The toy lay light in her fingers and she waved it in slow motions, the cats staring back at her without chasing it. It was a completely different state to the one inside her mind. Did she want Felix to hold her hand? _Yes_. 

There was no denying it at all. Suddenly, a hand lightly pressed against the handle, almost touching her own.

“The cats like it when if you wave it like this. If you’re okay with-”

Felix lifted his gaze back to her, seeming to search her expression. He cleared his throat and was about to move his hand back. Annette let go and wrapped her hand around Felix’s

“Yes.” Annette replied and stared up at Felix. He held her gaze, serious but gentle.

In a wave, the toy fluttered in an array of colours and chimes, neither hand moving away. 

* * *

With the first forkful, the treacle tart crumbled in her mouth, full of perfect sweetness and golden delight. 

Annette closed her eyes, lost to the flavours. It was the perfect accompaniment to that memory so long ago. Felix’s voice brought her back from her reverie. 

“It tastes good?” Opening her eyes once more, Felix pointed his chin to the tart on the table. 

“Yeah. I think your words added the magic touch to it.” A pinch of teasing dusted the last words of the sentence. 

Felix responded neither with embarrassing side glances nor muffled noises as he typically did after compliments. Instead, he raised a tentative hand to her cheek and brushed a loose curl from her face. 

Once tucked behind her ear, he dropped his hand to the table and said in a soft tone, “I’m glad, Annette.” 

So little words were spoken, but somehow, they always made Annette’s heart soar. Her free hand found Felix’s on top the table and, she took another delicate bite, basking within the moment. 

The perfect spell it was. 

_Spell FIN_

**Author's Note:**

> Btw although it doesn’t look like it here with Annette’s pov, Felix definitely fell for Annette first :P Maybe I’ll write that for another time.


End file.
